Facebook phone rumours have been swimming on the web now for a while now, with many denouncing the phone as a preposterous idea before Facebook or the manufacturer revealed there was any truth. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has repetitively denied the Facebook phone as not fitting with the company goals.
However, Facebook’s recent press event does offer some excitement for the people waiting for the Facebook phone. The press invites say ‘Come See Our New Home On Android’ on April 4. These events have previously shown Graph Search and News Feed redesign, so we have to expect something big.
According to 9to5Google, Facebook and HTC have been working on marketing campaigns for the past few weeks. Impressively, all this has been hushed up and we haven’t heard a whisper from the supply line or industry sources, although this may be because HTC has yet to start manufacturing the smartphone.
Facebook Android Smartphone
Other rumours believe the Facebook phone will come running a skinned version of Android, more compatible with Facebook. We expect the colour scheme to be blue and white, to make a real impact. The device will not run native Android apps, which are Google services, instead opting for Facebook Messenger, Photos and maybe Facebook Apps Store.
We recently heard a rumour about the HTC Myst, an apparent Facebook phone, carrying a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. This comes with a 5MP rear camera and 1.6MP front camera. It all seems very mid-range, and HTC did say they were only developing one flagship this year, the One.
HTC does seem the likely candidate to make a Facebook phone, considering they made two Facebook-optimised phones in the past: the HTC ChaCha and the HTC Salsa, which both had a button to let users update their status, upload photos, check into places, share news articles and other Facebook functionality.
These previous two Facebook phones, developed in 2011, flopped in terms of sales. We would think Facebook and HTC would have learnt from their mistakes, and will release something that can genuinely compete with Android and iOS.
If Facebook released a new smartphone, would you buy one? Leave us a comment below
